Guide dog trainers are one of the happiest careers in the United States.
At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, guide dog trainers rate their career happiness 4.2 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 5% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy guide dog trainers are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:
Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers
| Career | Satisfaction | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Wildlife rehabilitator | 4.2 | $28k |
| Animal trainer | 4.2 | $31k |
| Horse trainer | 4.2 | $24k |
| Equestrian | 4.1 | $22k |
| Zoologist | 4.1 | $65k |
| Animal breeder | 4.0 | $40k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are guide dog trainers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do guide dog trainers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as guide dog trainers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are guide dog trainer’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are guide dog trainers making the best use of their abilities?
Are guide dog trainers happy with their salary?
Guide dog trainers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.1/5. Guide dog trainers tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.
We asked guide dog trainers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.1 out of 5 stars
20 guide dog trainers
30% of guide dog trainers rated their compensation 5 stars
5% of guide dog trainers rated their compensation 4 stars
30% of guide dog trainers rated their compensation 3 stars
15% of guide dog trainers rated their compensation 2 stars
20% of guide dog trainers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do guide dog trainers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, guide dog trainers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.9/5. Unlike many careers, guide dog trainers have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become guide dog trainers.
We asked guide dog trainers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.9 out of 5 stars
21 guide dog trainers
48% of guide dog trainers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
19% of guide dog trainers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
14% of guide dog trainers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
14% of guide dog trainers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
5% of guide dog trainers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as guide dog trainers?
Guide dog trainers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.1/5. The majority of guide dog trainers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked guide dog trainers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
4.1 out of 5 stars
21 guide dog trainers
52% of guide dog trainers rated their career fit 5 stars
14% of guide dog trainers rated their career fit 4 stars
29% of guide dog trainers rated their career fit 3 stars
5% of guide dog trainers rated their career fit 2 stars
How enjoyable is a guide dog trainer’s work environment?
As a whole, guide dog trainers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 4.3/5. A solid majority of guide dog trainers enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a guide dog trainer.
We asked guide dog trainers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
4.3 out of 5 stars
21 guide dog trainers
57% of guide dog trainers rated their work environment 5 stars
24% of guide dog trainers rated their work environment 4 stars
14% of guide dog trainers rated their work environment 3 stars
5% of guide dog trainers rated their work environment 2 stars
Are guide dog trainers making the best use of their abilities?
Former guide dog trainers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.8/5. Most guide dog trainers surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a guide dog trainer, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.
We asked guide dog trainers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.8 out of 5 stars
22 guide dog trainers
36% of guide dog trainers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
23% of guide dog trainers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
27% of guide dog trainers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
14% of guide dog trainers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars